A Philadelphia area nursing home, St. Francis Center for Rehabilitation & Healthcare, was cited for extreme neglect and had its license revoked last September. The Pennsylvania Department of Health found the facility was not providing proper wound treatment and nursing care. St. Francis won an appeal against the license revocation and now is operating with a provisional license.
The nursing home is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit after a resident allegedly died from complications of bed sores. Two nursing homes in New Jersey are owned by the same party who acquired St. Francis in 2014.
Nursing home neglect can be fatal
According to The Inquirer, four residents of St. Francis passed away in 2017 around the time the state revoked the home’s license. One of those residents was Lois Coleman, and her daughter Shirley Burch filed a lawsuit against Center Management Group LLC in May. Burch alleges that Coleman needed to have her position changed every two hours per her doctor’s orders, but the staff failed to do so. Coleman died from infections and bed sores so severe that the sores penetrated all the way to the bone.
Repeated citations for neglect of residents
St. Francis Center for Rehabilitation & Healthcare was purchased along with three other nursing homes from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2014 by investor Charles Edouard Gros. Since the purchase, health regulators have cited these facilities 14 times for harm to residents.
Gros also owns nursing home facilities in New Jersey: Majestic Center for Rehabilitation & Sub-Acute Care in Camden and St. Mary’s Center for Rehabilitation & Healthcare in Cherry Hill. These homes have not been cited for mistreatment of patients.
Nursing home profits surge
Since Gros purchased these properties, profits have dramatically increased. St. Francis formerly was breaking even in terms of profits, but now is the second highest grossing nursing home in the Philadelphia area. His Pennsylvania facilities were making about $46 a patient per day in 2017, compared to the $3 a patient per day that the archdiocese was making. The New Jersey nursing homes also rank first and third in profits among facilities in the area.
Staff dramatically reduced at facilities
On visits to see her mother, Burch had noticed a dramatic decrease in staff. Records show employment at the Pennsylvania homes fell 17 percent under Gros’ direction. He also reduced the number of registered nurses and certified nursing assistants.
According to the Nursing Home Abuse Center, one form of nursing home neglect is medical neglect. This occurs when a facility does not attend to or prevent medical issues a resident may be dealing with. Signs of neglect include bed sores, infections, malnutrition, injuries from falls, sudden weight loss, dehydration and altered appearance or lack of personal hygiene. Any indication of nursing home neglect should be immediately reported, as these conditions can deteriorate rapidly.